Automatic timing arrangement for multiple unit polishing machines



April '23, 1946. c. D. JOHNSON 2,399,039

AUTOMATIC TIMING ARRANGEMENTFOR MULTIPLE UNIT POLISHING MACHINES Filed Dec. 22, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 War.- arle': J/zrworz 0M April 23, 1 946.

c. D. JOHNSON Filed Dec. 22, 1943 AUTOMATIC TIMING ARRANGEMENT FOR MULTIPLE UNIT POLISHING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 9 v a 1 3 3 2 12 n n' key Patented Apr. 23, 1946 UNITED STATES AUTOMATIC MULTIPLE TIlVHN G ARRANGEMENT FOR UNIT POLISHING MACHINES Application December 22,

8 Claims.

lhe present invention relates to polishing machines of the type that are adapted toperforni a polishing or finishing operation through relative movement between a polishing element and V the surface of an object being polished.

The mechanism of the present invention relates particularly to a multiple unit machine for polishing wire drawing dies by the reciprocation of a polishing element within the bore or opening ofeach die, accompanied by rotation of the die itself. Machines of this character, as heretofore constructed, have provided mean for driving a plurality of polishing elements and die holders in unison, so that stoppage of the machine to remove a finished die results in discontinuance of the polishing operation on any unfinished dies. Therefore, full production from such a multiple unit machine is obtainable only when the polishing operation on all of .thedie is started and stooped at the same time. Such a mode of continuous operation is almost impossible of accomplishment, due to the Wide variety of die sizes which such a machine normally handles and the fact that the polishing sizes of dies. V 7

According to'the present invention there is provided an automatic timing arrangement for multiple unit polishing machines characterized by the provision of an individual drive for each unit, operating under the selective timing control of a stop motion functioning independently of all the other polishing units of the machine. v As a result, a polishing machine provided with my improved timing arran ement i adapted to operate continuously at substantially full capacity. This is due to the fact that the machine operator can selectively control the length of the polishing cycle of any given unit, so that t e polishing elemen and associated article will automatically come to rest for the removal ofthe finished article and replacement thereof by an unfinished one. without in any way affecting the continued operation of the other units operating on different polishing cycles.

The above and other advantageous features of the invention will hereinafter more fully appear from the following description, considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a view in unit'polishing machine provided with a timing arrangement embdying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in arrows.

time varies for different front elevation of a multiple \7 the direction ofthe I 1943, Serial No. 515,312

Fig. 3 is a view on timing mechanism for shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a transverse line 4-4 of'Fig. 3,1. looking inthe arrows.

Fig. 5 is line 5-5 of Fig. 4, looking in the arrows.

line 6-5 of Fig. 4:.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown illustration, a-portion of a multiple unit die polishing machine to which there has been applied an automatic timing arrangement for controlling the operation of each polishing unit in accordance with the present invention.

B comprisbetween which extend cross members 2 for supporting a plurality of ro'tatably are identical in construction and are uniformly spaced for purposes of This machin provides a suitable base ing end frames I,

mounted die'holders 3. These die holders 3 across the machine. Each die holder 3 is'ada'pted and the die is rotatably driven bymeans to receive a die'4 that is to be polished holder with its of a pulley 5." r

The bore or openingof the die at 4a, and the polishing action is polishing element 6 in wire extending into the opening to the axis of the die. as shown in Fig. 1-.

to a head 1 provided'at the end across The lower end to keep the element forth through polishing operation.

6 taut-as it 'is moved 4o 8 by means of an eccentriclZ between the end frames I. :I'he

rocker 8 is yieldingly maintained with the eccentriclz by'means so that each revolution of polishing element 6. with respect to the die A.

Thesleeve I3, which carries the eccentric I2, is

' by-abelt sleeve l9] constituting-the driven member of a clutching de'vice C, hereinafter" described in detail*with reference also'provided with a pulley l6 connected ll with a pulley l8 mounted on a PATENT, OFFICE;

an enlarged scale of the one of the polishing units sectional view along the direction of the a horizontal sectional view along the direction of the Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional View along the t i indicated obtained by a the form of a filament or do at an angle .L T upper end of the polishing element 5 is connected of a" rocker or i yieldably connected to a bracket I0 upon which'the' die holder 3 i rotatably mounted; with a spring H serving back and the'die opening to perforrn the to Fig. 3. The sleeve 19 carries a second pulley 20 connected by a belt 2| to the pulley 5 of the die holder 3, so that rotation of the pulley sleeve l9 will cause rotation of the die about its axis simultaneously with reciprocatory movement of the element 6 to obtain polishing of the die opening 4a. As will be evident from a consideration of Fig. l, a pair of pulleys l8 and I 9 is provided for each die polished unit (as represented by a die holder 3, a rocker 8 and polishing element 6), and the present invention contemplates an arrangement for controlling the operation of each clutch device C in accordance with the length of time that it is desired to carry on the polishing operation with respect to each individual die '4. To this end, the several pulley sleeves I 9 are mounted on a shaft 22 that is continuously driven from a suitable source of power as by means of pulley 22a, with the sleeve 19 of each clutch device C having associated therewith a driving member 23 rotatable with the shaft 22. e member 23 of each clutch C is yieldingly maintained in driving engagement with the pulley sleeve is by means of a spring 24 2-! between the end of the member 23 and a fixed collar 25. The spring 24 normally tends to maintain the member-23 in driving engagement with the pulley sleeve 19, and C provides a throw-out lever As best shown in Fig, 3, the throw-out lever 26 provides a yoke portion 28 embracing the clutch member 23, which is slidably keyed to the shaft 22, as shown. The driving member 23 carries a shifting ring 29, held axially in position on the member by a collar 30, with the ring 29 being free upon the member 23. As best shown in Fig. 4, the shifting ring 29 provides pins 3! received in the yoke 28 so that the position of the lever 23, with respect to its pivot 21', will determine whether or not the member .23 is in driving engagement with the pulley sleeve l9 through the medium of the frictional clutching plates 32. 7

With the member .23 maintained in driving engagement with the pulley sleeve 1-9 by the pressure of the spring 24; the'throwout lever 26 is held in the position of Fig. 3 with its upper end operating portion 230. ex-

the shaft 37, the actuator, together with its carrying sleeve 34, will move along the shaft 35 in the direction of the clutch g hrogv-out lever :26, as indicated by the arrow in The actuator :33 provides an operating portion '38 extending at right angles to the portion which sleeve 34 and connected carries the nut 33 and the upper end of this portion 38 carries a latch 39. As best shown in Fig. 6, the latch 39 is slidably received in an opening 40 provided by the portion 38, and a. spring 4! within the opening 43 yieldably maintains the end of the latch 39 beyond the end of the portion 38. The latch 39 is of such length that with the parts occupying the position of Fig. 4 the end of the latch will bear on the lower portion of a timing bar 42 extending across the machine above and parallel to the shaft 35.

As previously pointed out, the actuator 33 is freely turnable on its sleeve 34, and the latch 39 is yieldingly held in engagement with the timing bar 42 by means of a spring 43 surrounding the at its ends to the actuator 33 and a collar 44 fixed on the sleeve 34. Therefore, when the actuator and its sleeve is caused to travel along the shaft 35 by the feeding action of the engaged nut 36, the latch 39 will slide along the lower portion of the bar 42, with the bar exerting a restraining action on the tendency of the actuator 33 to be turned in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 4, by the tension of the spring 43.

The timing bar 42 extends across the width of the machine, as shown in Fig. 1, and the lower edge thereof is provided at equally spaced intervals with notches 45 corresponding in number to the several actuators 33. Each notch 45 is of such width as to freely receive a latch 39 and it isto be noted in Fig. 3 that the inclined operating portion 26a of the associated lever 23 is disposed in front of the notch 45 in a plane parallel to the face of the bar 42. Therefore, when movement of the actuator 33 to the right, as viewed in Fig. 3, carries the latch 39 into register with the notch 45, the spring 43 will turn the actuator into the dotted line position of Fig. 4, wherein the upwardly moving free end of the actuator 33 will engage the inclined operating portion 23a and quickly turn the lever 26 about its pivot. A throw-out lever 25 is shown in its actuated position, with reference to the polishing unit at the right hand end of Fig. 1. Such turning movement of the lever 26 therefore shifts the driving member 23 of its clutch C out of engagement with thepulley so that the polishing unit will remain idle as long as the actuator'33 occupies the dotted line position. When the latch 39 ofany actuator 33 enters its notch .45, on the timing bar 32, its turning movement by the force of the spring 43 is limited by a stop arm -46 carried by a flange 4? at the end of the sleeve 34. As shown by the dotted line position of the actuator 3.3 in Fig. 4, the stop arm 45 maintains the actuator portion 38, with its latch 39, just out of engagement with the-rear edge of the bar 42. Therefore, should the actuator be pulled forward, as by means of a knob attached to the latch 39, the beveled face will cause the latch to yield within the opening 43 to permit the actuator to be repositioned with its nut 33 again in engagement with the feed shaft 37.

As previously templates the pointed out, the invention conse-lective operation of each timing as to automatically control the -dividually adjustable with respect to groups of equally spaced timing scale markings 58 provided along the lower edge of the bar 42. For purposes of illustration these markings 50 are calibrated in terms of time units representing the rate of travel of the latch 39 of the associated actuator 33. That is to say. with a given pitch to the threads 31a of the feed screw shaft 31, the latch 39 will traverse the distance between any two adjacent markings 59 within a fixed time interval which, for purposes of illustration, may be considered as one minute.

Each timing stop 49 consists of an index plate the right band edge of which is adapted to register with the markings 59. Each stop 49 also provides a U-shaped slide 5?. embracing the bar 42, which slide extends beyond'the loweredge of the bar 42. The plate 5! and slide 52 of each stop 4! are connected together with sufiicient play soas to be movable as a unit on the bar 42. The slide 52 of each stop 49 may be clamped in any desired position on the bar 42 with respect to a group-of scale markings 50 by means of a thumb screw 53 threaded into the slide and bearing on the top of the bar.

Thus each individual timing stop 49 may be adiusted on the bar 42 and clamped in position,

with the edge of its index plate 5! in alignment with any given scale marking 50, or any graduation thereof.

Therefore, when an actuator 33, occupying dotted line position of Fig. 4 is slid along the shaft 35 to the left, as viewed in Fig. 3, the lower end of the associated stop 49 will limit the extent of such movement. The actuator 33 having been so positioned, with its latch-carrying portion .38 engaging the stop 49, the actuator is pulled forward by its knob 48 to snap the latch 39 into engagement with the front of the bar,

'as shown in Fig; 4, Since this turning movement of the actuatoralso engages the nut 36 with the screw-feed shaft 31, the actuator immediately starts'to travel along the shaft 35 toward the lever 26, which automatically returns to the full line position of Fig. 3 as soon as an operated actuator is moved away from the notch 45. The polishing cycle of any unit will, therefore, be accurately measured by the time that it takes the latch 39 to travel between the selected scale marking 50 and the notch 45.

Having described the various parts entering into the timing arrangement for each polishing unit, the operation of the machine, as a whole, will now be considered with reference to Fig. 1. In this showing of the machine, the first polishing unit, as viewed from the left, is shown completely with its polishing element '6 in the middle of a polishing cycle. That is to say, the associated actuator 33 has at that moment moved along the shaft 35 so that its latch 39 is separated from the timing stop 49 by an appreciable distance representing a given number of minutes. Obviously, then, the operation of this particular unit will continue until the latch 39 enters the notch 45.

As regards the second polishing unit, as viewed from the left, which is shown as broken away in Fig. 1, the actuator of this unit is shown as just having been moved into engagement with its timing stop 49 to initiate the polishing cycle. In this second unit, parts are broken away to show the rocker 8 bearing on the eccentric l2 and the driving member 23 of the clutch is shown engaged with the pulley l9 so that oscillatory movement isbeing imparted to: the'rocker 8 simultaneously with rotation of the die holde 3. firsttwlo polishing units, shown in Fig. 1, are s1- multaneously operating at difierent stages of their respective polishing cycles.

The third and fourth polishing units, as viewed fromfthe left in Fig. '1, are only partially shown with the bracket is for the polishing element of each unit being broken away to show the relation between the throw-out lever 25 and actuator 35 of each timing mechanism. In the third mechanism, the actuator 33 is shown as having justleft the timing stop 49 in its travel toward the operating portion 250. of the lever 26, while in the fourth mechanism, the. actuator 33 is shown at the moment of swinging upwardly to throw the lever 25 into its clutch-disengaging position and thereby bring its polishing unit to rest.

From the above described discussion of the showing of Fig. 1, it is, therefore, apparent that each polishing unit can be individually controlled so as to selectively cause it to automatically perform a predetermined polishing cycle independently of all the other polishing units. Therefore, the operator of the machine can handle a large number of different sizes of dies (or other articles) requiring polishing times of different lengths, while maintaining the machine at maximum output. As each individual polishing unit comes to rest, all the operator has to do is to remove the finished die and replace it with an unpolished die. The particular actuator for the then stationary unit is then moved against its timing stop, with either the same or a new setting, whereupon operation of that unit is resumed forthe chosen length of the polishing cycle.

Obviously, while the above described manipulations by the operator are being performed, the

remainder of the polishing units continue to operate, or another unit may stop. In either event, the production of finished articles by the machine, as a whole, is not materially slowed down by the stoppage of any one particular unit or units.

fI claim:

1. A'machine of the class described, comprising in combination a plurality of polishing units, each comprising a workholder, a polishing element, and means for causing relative movement between said workholder and element to perform.

a polishing operation on work in said holder, a source of power, a continuousl driven timing element common to all of said units, means for individually driving the workholder and polishing element of each unit from said power source, and means, governed by operation of said timing element, for automatically determining the length of time that each polishing unit is driven from said power source, independently of all other units.

2. A machine of the class described, comprising in combination a plurality of pol s ing units, each comprising a workholder, a polishing element, and means for causing relative movement between said workholder and element to perform a polishing operation on work in said holder, a source of power, a continuously driven timing element common to al1 of said units, means for individually driving the workholder and polishing element of each unit from said power source, and means, governed by operation of said timing element, for selectively controlling the driving means for the several units to automatically determine the duration of the polishing operation performed by each unit, independently of all other units.

Therefore, the

3. A machine of the class described, comprising in combination a plurality of polishing units, each comprising a workholder, a polishing element, and means for causing relative movement between said workholder and element to perform a polishing operation on work in said holder, at source of power, means for individually driving the workholder and polishing element of each unit from said power source, a continuously driven timing element common to all of said units, and a pluralit of timing devices corresponding in number to said units for automatically controlling the driving means of each unit, inde pendently of all other units through functioning of said timing element.

4. A machine of the class described, comprising in combination a plurality of units for performing polishing operations on different workpieces, a continuously driven power shaft, a plurality of clutch devices associated with said shaft for individually driving said polishing units, and a timing arrangement comprising a continuously driven feed shaft common to all of said units and actuators driven thereby for selectively operating said clutches in accordance with diiferent predetermined lengths of polishing operations to be performed by the several units operating in dependently of each other.

5. A machine of the class described, comprising in combination a plurality of units for, performing polishing operations on different workpieces, a continuously driven power shaft, a plurality of clutch devices associated with said shaft for individually driving said polishing units, anda timing arrangement comprising a continuously driven feed shaft common to all of said units and a plurality of clutch actuators selectively movable with respect to said feed shaft to automatically determine the length of time that each polishing unit is connected to said power shaft by its associated clutch.

6. A machine of the class described, comprising in combination a plurality of units for performing polishing operations on difierent Workpieces, a continuously driven power shaft, a plurality of clutch devices associated with said shaft for individually driving said polishing units, and a timing arrangement comprising a continuously driven feed shaft common to all of said units, a plurality of clutch actuators, means for causing relative displacement between said actuators and said clutches, with respect to said feed shaft, and means for selectively determining the degree of displacement of each actuator, independently of the others, to determine the length of time that each polishing unit is driven from said power shaft by its associated clutch.

7. A machine of the class described, comprising in combination a plurality of work finishing units, each comprising a work holder for mounting a die having an opening therein, a work finishing element, and means for causing relative movement between said work holder and element to perform a finishing operation on said die opening, a source of power, a continuousl driven timing element common to all of said units, means for individually driving each of said units from said power source, and means governed by operation of said timing element for selectively controlling the driving means for the several units to automatically determine the duration of the finishing operation performed by each unit, independently of all other units.

8. A machine of the class described, comprising in combination a plurality of work finishing units, each comprising a work holder for mounting :a die having an opening therein, a work finishing element, and means for causing relative movement between said work holder and element to perform a finishing operation on said die opening, a source of power, a continuously driven timing element common to all of said units, means for individually driving each of said units from said power source, and a plurality of timing devices corresponding in number to said units for automatically controlling the driving means of each unit, independently of all other units, through functioning of said timing element.

CHARLES D. JOHNSON. 

